A man pleaded guilty Tuesday to drunken driving and causing a crash that killed a passenger in his car.

Andres E. Alvarez-Salinas will serve 1½ to three years in prison for the Oct. 31 incident.

The 25-year-old man was hanging out and drinking with three friends the night of the crash.

According to the N.C. Highway Patrol, Alvarez-Salinas was driving his 2007 Toyota east on Gaston Avenue near the intersection of Lowell-Bethesda Road when he crossed the centerline and ran off the left side of the road. The car flipped multiple times.

Jorge Lopez was riding in the front passenger’s seat. The 21-year-old Gastonia man flew from the car through the sunroof and died at the scene.

Speed and alcohol were among the causes of the crash, according to the N.C. Highway Patrol.

According to Gaston County Assistant District Attorney Stephanie Hamlin, Alvarez-Salinas admitted to investigators that he’d been drinking the night of the crash, saying he’d had six or seven beers.

Neither Lopez nor the two backseat passengers, Robert Reaves and Mauricio Velasco, were wearing seat belts.

Velasco was not injured in the crash but both Reaves and Alvarez-Salinas were taken to Gaston Memorial Hospital.

Alvarez-Salinas still has the staples put in his head following the crash.

Reaves’ broken hand and concussion have healed. The scars on his face and hand remain. But sitting in court Tuesday morning with Alvarez-Salinas’ family, he said he holds no ill will against his friend.

“I feel like he doesn’t deserve to be locked up,” said Reaves. “He’s my friend. He didn’t mean to do this. It could’ve happened to any of us.”

Reaves said he spent two days in the hospital after the crash, getting released early so he could attend Lopez’s funeral.

Alvarez-Salinas came to court with his mother, sisters and about a dozen family members. He has been home since being charged, making bail the day he was incarcerated.

His family sobbed as they watched Alvarez-Salinas wave goodbye while being led to a holding cell.

Prior to the fatal crash, Alvarez-Salinas often put in 60 or more hours with a delivery service, according to his attorney, Cindy Smith.

He contributed financially to the family’s household, she told Superior Court Judge James Morgan.

Smith said her client intended to apologize to the Lopez family in court, but no one from the Lopez family came to the proceedings.

“Mr. Alvarez feels horrible about what happened,” Smith said.

Alvarez-Salinas entered an Alford guilty plea, which means he didn’t admit guilt but will be treated as guilty.

Page 2 of 2 - The plea arrangement merged the DWI with the death by motor vehicle charge.

Morgan handed down the sentence, ordered Alvarez-Salinas to get a drug assessment while he’s in prison and revoked the man’s driver’s license.

You can reach reporter Diane Turbyfill at 704-869-1817 and twitter.com/GazetteDiane.